Chapter 1702: A One-Person Realm Called a Wail, Stillness Before the Storm

Pitter-patter…

The rain fell from the leaves, splashed onto the soil, and formed widening ripples on the lake surface.

Several months after Hua Changdeng’s lantern ghost hunt, the Mourning Emperor Realm finally experienced its first rain. This signified the restoration of normal weather patterns, the Emperor Realm returning to its usual state, and everything getting back on track.

The rain poured, growing heavier and heavier.

The fish in the mountain lake blew more and more bubbles, as if they had been suffocating, eagerly vying to swim out and gasp for air.

“Wow!”

The lake surface erupted, revealing numerous Beihuan.

There were mermaids with human heads and fish bodies, and beautiful Fish-Huai with fish heads and human bodies.

While the other fish were breathing fresh air, a Beihuan swam from nearby to the shore. It had a human head and a fish body, with a chubby baby’s face, utterly adorable: “What are you thinking about?”

The white-robed, barefoot Beihuan on the shore was resting his chin in his hand, his eyes empty, as if he had been lost in thought there for a very long time. Dead leaves lay scattered all around him, and his body was covered in dust. Cobwebs stretched between his legs and nearby stones, reaching up to his chin and chest.

He had become one with the trees, stones, lake, wind, and rain—no longer an individual, but a natural, seamless part of his surroundings.

The unmoving, integrated Beihuan, as if his soul returned upon hearing the voice, slowly moved his eyes to look down.

The sounds of wind and rain swept in from the lakeside. The dust and cobwebs on Beihuan’s body were washed away, and he became clean again.

His lips curved slightly as he looked down at the little Beihuan clinging to the shore, gently saying, “I am recuperating.”

“Have you finished recuperating?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“What is recuperation?” the little Beihuan by the shore asked, flapping its fish tail. It had a beautiful sky-blue fish body and tail, and could unleash Void Power as sharp as gold, making it a dominant Beihuan in the mountain lake.

The white-robed, barefoot Beihuan still rested his chin in his hand. His other hand held a bulging, yellowed scroll-like book with a pen tucked inside—a diary. Rainwater soaked his hair, flowing down his eye sockets and temples. He felt no itch, nor did he mind, patiently looking at the little Beihuan as he softly explained:

“Life is about ‘recuperation’.”

“If the wind breaks a huai tree’s branch, the wound needs time to recuperate. Humans, when injured, can also heal this way and sprout anew.”

As he spoke, the wet-haired Beihuan extended his hand, turning his face and palm upward, feeling the coldness of the raindrops with his body: “See, it’s raining.”

Rain is a gift from heaven, the sweet nectar of life.

Beihuan’s intention was very clear: he desired prosperity and flourishing life.

The Mourning Emperor Realm thus became lush with vegetation, rapidly growing upwards. Various red and purple flowers vied in splendor, releasing intoxicating fragrances.

“It’s raining!”

“Look, it’s raining!”

The little Beihuan clinging to the shore, as if just realizing, repeatedly cried out and swam to different parts of the mountain lake.

Soon, sounds of joyful exclamations echoed throughout the Mourning Emperor Realm. Every Beihuan celebrated the new life after the rain, genuinely feeling happy.

Beihuan smiled happily.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle…

Suddenly, the rain threads falling everywhere began to crackle, secreting streaks of scarlet light.

“Ahhh!”

“It hurts, it hurts so much, I’m in so much pain!”

“Don’t eat me, don’t eat me, I want to live, I want to live…”

Sounds of agony echoed everywhere. Every living being that touched the rainwater—vegetation withered, and the Beihuan corroded.

As if being corroded, dissolved, cursed…

The Mourning Emperor Realm, with this rain, plunged into a living hell. Everything was quickly enveloped in a gray gloom and scarlet mist.

Beihuan lost his smile.

He opened his diary, took out the pen and bit it, rapidly flipping through the pages.

He found no anomaly.

Soon, he put down the diary and tilted his head as if listening for something.

“Malevolent Yin?”

Behind him, a hazy black shadow materialized, uttering a soft sound of surprise.

The shadow was very tall, about three zhang, its entire body concealed within a large black robe. No human face was visible in the darkness of its hood, only two faint ghostly flames. From its long sleeves, a skeletal hand emerged, gripping a black long-handled scythe held horizontally. Its blade alone was several zhang long, and the long handle angled deeply into the ground, not appearing to be corporeal.

“Not so…”

The shadow quickly identified the source of the anomaly: “Power of the Blood World Bead, Malevolent Yin sorcery, bloodline curses, and…” Its voice gradually faded until it was gone.

Beihuan retracted his hand.

The pockmarks on his palm rapidly healed.

He slightly curled his five fingers, and various powers were forced to manifest.

There was the Power of the Blood World Bead, the Power of Evil Gods, the Power of Curses, the Power of Death Gods…

“Your power.”

Beihuan gazed at the hazy, cloudy sky, mumbling absently.

The black shadow behind him merely flashed and vanished, now completely disappeared without a trace.

“Snap!”

Beihuan crushed the ball of power in his hand, his lips curved again, and he smiled happily once more.

He retrieved the yellowed diary and stood up. Now, no other power remained in his palm, only a faint, almost imperceptible wisp of devouring power.

“I found you.”

Will Beihuan die?

Not until the retreating figure of Heavenly Human Five Decays completely vanished on the horizon, and his cursing voice completely faded from earshot. Ai Cangsen hadn't fired an arrow. His Great Dao Eye stared at the void, still lost in thought.

Soon, he confirmed his answer.

Beihuan would not die!

There were many eccentrics among the Ten Venerables. Some, like himself, came from humble beginnings and achieved their status step by step through opportunities and unforeseen circumstances. Others were geniuses like Cao Yihan and Ba Zun'an, who achieved success in one go, directly comprehending the ‘enlightenment’ of the Great Dao.

But all of them combined couldn’t compare to a choice made on a whim by a descendant of one of the Five Great Saint Emperor Families:

Dao Qiongcang, Beihuan.

The reason Dao Qiongcang remained simply Dao Qiongcang was because he had taken a different path than Beihuan. He couldn't be loyal to the Qianshi Dao Clan, but still retained his humanity, and so chose to start from scratch. This was Ai Cangsen’s current understanding. He still couldn't see through Dao Qiongcang and felt that any insights he gained about Dao Qiongcang were merely what Dao Qiongcang wanted him to see.

But Beihuan…

Completely different!

In stark contrast to the secretive Dao Qiongcang, Beihuan was always frank, always exposed. He was loyal to the Mourning Emperor Realm and also to himself, in a way entirely different from normal human thought. He meticulously followed the Mourning Emperor Realm’s plan for him—using the resources of the Saint Emperor Family, realizing his own talent, passing their heart-testing trials, and reaching the final step. Unlike Yue Gongli, Beihuan had not a shred of hesitation regarding the choice of “replacing” the Saint Emperor status. He openly accepted the Saint Emperor status, fulfilling the contract and achieving the position, instantly becoming the second person in that generation of the Ten Venerables to be crowned Saint Emperor.

The above was what Ai Cangsen understood about Beihuan’s loyalty to the Mourning Bei Clan. The following is what he understood about Beihuan’s loyalty to himself, and how it did not conflict with his loyalty to his family.

As soon as Beihuan was crowned Saint Emperor, he began to promote his research philosophy on life. In just three years, he completed the transformation of the Mourning Bei Clan, transforming 99% of its life forms into Beihuan. He enslaved the World Tree and Guardian God of the Mourning Emperor Realm—the Grand Huai. He centralized and unified all resources—spirit artifacts, spirit herbs, spirit beasts, etc.—that were scattered among the family's high-ranking members, taking them back into his own hands. He sent all entities and voices that obstructed his life research philosophy into reincarnation, making them the first batch of experimental subjects to perfect his philosophy. In less than ten years, he instantly became the strongest family head in the history of the Mourning Emperor Realm. While allowing the world to flourish, he would always project only one voice to the outside world:

Beihuan!

When the Five Great Saint Emperor Families convened another grand assembly and noticed that the lower-ranking members of the Mourning Bei Clan were in an abnormal state, each of them a little mad, the die was cast. The Mourning Emperor Realm had become one man’s empire. Apart from keeping a respectful distance or jointly resisting Beihuan at crucial moments, the other four families could do nothing else. Even the Han Palace Yue Clan was reluctant to provoke him, so one could imagine how powerful Beihuan had become.

“Will Beihuan die?”

The resolute vow of Heavenly Human Five Decays flashed in his mind again, and Ai Cangsen shook his head slightly. This was why he didn't want to respond much to Heavenly Human Five Decays' question. This was the unspeakable truth above the Heavenly Ladder, a truth that no one would remember even if told. In reality, any explanation that could be given to the outside world had already been given when Xu Xiaoshou ascended the Holy Mountain and Ai Cangsen uttered the words “Path Protector.”

“Ten!”

“I, also one of the Ten Venerables, cannot.”

“Xu Xiaoshou, who hasn't reached seven or eight tenths of that power, cannot.”

Under heaven, Ai Cangsen, despite possessing the Great Dao Eye, couldn't see how many others still had a chance to succeed. He was willing to give the haphazardly assembled Heavenly Human Five Decays a chance to reach “Ten,” even if his mind was utterly mad, as long as he could still control a sliver of clarity in his spiritual platform…

In the eyes of the world, Heavenly Human Five Decays was mad. In Ai Cangsen's eyes, all the world's madness could not compare to Beihuan's madness.

The Path Protector was self-proclaimed. Because what a frog in a well cannot see, the Great Dao Eye can. Ai Cangsen no longer wished to see moths flying into a flame, and even less did he wish to see the flame nourished further after each moth’s futile attempt!

“Curse…”

Would a curse be useful?

The curse from Heavenly Human Five Decays was clearly extremely powerful; even Dao Qiongcang fell victim to it, and even he himself had willingly succumbed.

But!

Could it deal with Beihuan, or even the other three great families?

Ai Cangsen had no answer.

He slowly withdrew his gaze from the sky, resuming his usual static posture, and turned to look at Xu Xiaoshou, who was still in the battle scene. The answer Heavenly Human Five Decays wanted was too small, and he was too lazy to give it. Xu Xiaoshou knew the general outline of the answer, so he didn't need to give it. But just ‘answers’ or ‘no answers’ were useless. Xu Xiaoshou was right, it was all about ‘fighting!’ If everything combined, even he, the self-proclaimed Path Protector, the final touchstone beneath the Heavenly Ladder, couldn't overcome it, then just go back and play. At least, a frog in a well has its own blessings: knowing less, living happier.

“Do I need to go to the Southern Region?”

Ai Cangsen, still seated on the cassia wood wheelchair atop the pile of rubble, could see the discussions across the Five Regions, but couldn't hear their voices. He knew that the image of “Emperor Cangsen” would suffer a decline after this, but he didn't care. He was never protecting the Path for the sake of the common people. He was doing it for Lei Xiaoxiao, and for the part of himself connected to Lei Xiaoxiao. He looked at Xu Xiaoshou, his expression still calm, as if being flung from Guizhe Holy Mountain to the Eastern Region and killing Heavenly Human Five Decays once in between, only for him to not die—None of this mattered. And indeed, it truly didn't matter; to the “Path” that Ai Cangsen upheld, it was as insignificant as dust.

“If you insist, I’ll have Elder Zhong take me to the Southern Region. Our agreement is still valid.”

Ai Cangsen stared at the young man beside Elder Zhong. Everyone said Grandmaster Shou was as wild as the young Ba Zun'an; he even uttered the arrogant boast, “No such prodigy as I for a hundred generations, no superior person for ten thousand years.” Ai Cangsen saw no trace of the young Ba Zun'an in Xu Xiaoshou, and no hope of success within him, not even a sliver. He had not achieved cross-era feats. He couldn't defeat his thirty-year-old self, nor withstand the three stages of unsealing. His cultivation of thorough divine sense was merely superficial, inferior to Cao Erzhu, and far inferior to Kui Leihan. This proved that the next generation cultivated by the Holy Slaves—Lei Shuangxing—was a failure, and Xu Xiaoshou, who replaced Lei Shuangxing, was still a failure. The Holy Slaves' thirty years, from beginning to end, had been a failed attempt.

Except for Ba Zun'an.

Except for Ba Zun'an's spirit.

“Ba Zun'an, only you remain…”

“What do you mean?”

Zhong Yuanzi glanced to his side. It was rare for Xu Xiaoshou and Ai Cangsen to have such a calm exchange. Was this the calm before the storm? Or perhaps it was simply that the Blood World Bead had left the scene, and it felt truly wonderful; the air itself felt sweeter… Zhong Yuanzi felt the world had become boundless. Even the “taking someone” mentioned by Ai Cangsen garnered no objection. His salary wasn't high, but it wasn't so meager that he couldn't take someone across regions. He was, after all, one of the Four Divine Envoys!

“What’s your plan?”

Xu Xiaoshou also quickly pulled his thoughts away from his worries about Heavenly Human Five Decays, and looked at Zhong Yuanzi, asking.

Mind Strip!

“A plan?”

“The plan, of course, is to first trap you on the eighteenth layer of the Dead Sea, then…”

“Zhong Yuanzi!” Ai Cangsen wasn't entirely clear about the specific relationship between the two, nor did he wish to know, but this didn't prevent him from issuing a stern warning.

“Huh? What plan?”

Zhong Yuanzi blinked, reacting swiftly. He touched his yellow rhombus-patterned headscarf, looking bewildered. “Huh? What plan?”

Xu Xiaoshou shook his head, chuckling.

“Elder Zhong, you really are foolish, you’re not pretending.”

“Do you rehearse what you say in your mind before speaking?”

If Mind Strip wasn't used during wartime to steal subconscious reactions at critical moments, then in situations like this, even with guidance, it was easily interrupted by outsiders.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't care. He looked back at Ai Cangsen and said, “I insist; you should go to the Southern Region.”

What was the difference between the Eastern Region and the Southern Region for Grandmaster Shou? Everyone in front of the Five Regions Transmission Mirror quickly returned from the interlude with Heavenly Human Five Decays and began to ponder this question. Feng Zhongzui was still analyzing methodically. In reality, for Xu Xiaoshou, there was no difference between the Eastern Region and the Southern Region. Both were to temporarily distance Ai Cangsen from the Dead Sea. But Ai Cangsen had the Great Dao Eye and the Evil Sin Bow, and could fire arrows in support, whether in the South or East. Xu Xiaoshou also knew that the group from Guizhe Holy Mountain insisted on carrying out “Plan Sixteen” and insisted on making the Dead Sea their battlefield. The Dead Sea surely had some large trap that could ensnare him. This was not important. Everyone was playing with open cards. Xu Xiaoshou didn’t have to immediately jump into the innermost trap of the Dead Sea.

After Ai Cangsen went to the Southern Region, there was still some time before he entered the Dead Sea and before Elder Sang emerged. For others, this short period was no time at all; no one could suddenly achieve anything significant. For Xu Xiaoshou, this was the crucial period he could carve out to rapidly strengthen himself in front of the Five Regions. He would be watched, but would absolutely not be disturbed by anyone. Because during this period, even Emperor Cangsen would wait for him and protect him until he entered the “trap” that Emperor Cangsen had prepared in advance.

“Ai Cangsen.”

“Hmm?”

“Nothing.”

“Heh.”

Xu Xiaoshou watched the man on the wheelchair sneer, and returned a sneer. In reality, he really wanted to say: “Without Dao Qiongcang at the Holy Mountain, you truly cannot set up any so-called ‘schemes!’” But he decided against it. What if these people, provoked, went and invited the flamboyant old Daoist back, or secretly sought some brilliant stratagem from him? The path ahead might become ten thousand times more difficult.

“Do you need me to give you a ride?”

Xu Xiaoshou turned to look at Elder Zhong. Others didn't know how frantically Elder Zhong had rushed to the Eastern Region, but he had witnessed the entire process. Zhong Yuanzi's expression was somewhat embarrassed. He glanced at the Transmission Mirror standing not far away and, with a flick of his sleeve, said:

“No need.”

Seeing his haughty expression, Xu Xiaoshou almost laughed out loud. He pressed his lips together and patted his shoulder: “Take care.”

Finally, with his back to the Transmission Mirror, he seemed to grasp at the air, then secretly took Zhong Yuanzi's hand, as if slipping something into his palm.

“What are they doing!”

Feng Zhongzui, with his sharp eyes, caught sight of all this and cried out in alarm. Zhong Yuanzi in the image reacted as if pricked by a hedgehog, exploding upon touch. He hastily jumped away, and at the same time, spread his hands out, showing them to Emperor Cangsen and the Transmission Mirror:

“He did it on purpose!”

“He didn't give me anything; he just held my hand for a moment. He… Argh!”

Zhong Yuanzi suddenly choked on his words, his expression as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a mosquito, feeling like a mute who had eaten bitter herbs, unable to voice his suffering.

“He didn't give me anything, don't misunderstand!”

“But precisely because he didn't give me anything, I can't show you anything. Although it looks like I'm deceiving you, it's precisely because I have nothing…”

The reason Zhong Yuanzi abruptly stopped was precisely this: he couldn't prove that Xu Xiaoshou's surreptitious actions just now hadn't actually given him anything!

“I’m not innocent anymore…”

Ai Cangsen slowly closed his eyes, simply too lazy to look at these two behaving like children a moment longer. He ignored everything. After waving Zhong Yuanzi over and disregarding the latter's incessant chatter, he finally looked at Xu Xiaoshou:

“After the Dead Sea, I will no longer hold back.”

Xu Xiaoshou showed no gratitude. A Spatial Dao Plate unfolded beneath his feet, and with a whoosh, he appeared beside Guizhe Holy Mountain in the Central Region.

The Transmission Mirror in Feng Zhongzui's hand involuntarily aimed at Grandmaster Shou's dashing retreating figure, and he belatedly realized: “What? He was clearly in the Eastern Region just a moment ago…”

His astonished voice had yet to fully settle when Beibei suddenly popped out from nowhere with a whoosh. She still carried her Emperor Sword on her back, appearing abruptly in front of Feng Zhongzui. She bent down, pressed two fingers onto her chubby cheeks, pulled down her lower eyelids to expose the whites of her eyes, and made a grimace at the Transmission Mirror:

“As if you could win, Ai dog, woof woof woof.”